The two independent studies in this volume are: 1. Alan J. Hauser, Yahweh versus Death-The Real Struggle in 1 Kings 17-19. Hauser argues that although Yahweh emerges victorious in the famous match against Baal in ch. 18, it is Yahweh's struggle with death that gives 1 Kings 17-19 its literary shape and dynamic. 2. Russell Gregory, Irony and the Unmasking of Elijah. Gregory detects a fundamental irony in 1 Kings 17-19: Elijah, driven by his ambitions to clear the country of the prophets of Baal and to lead the people back to the worship of the one true god, appears to be a diligent and forceful prophet for Yahweh. And yet, his frenetic activity only veils his arrogance and his subversion of the prophetic task.>

Biblical authors were artists of language who created their meaning through their verbal artistry, their rhetoric. These twelve essays see meaning as ultimately inseparable from art and seek to understand the biblical literature with sensitivity to the writer's craft. Contents: David Clines, The Arguments of Job's Friends. George Coats, A Moses Legend in Numbers 12. Charles Davis, The Literary Structure of Luke 1-2. Cheryl Exum, A Literary Approach to Isaiah 28. David Gunn, Plot, Character and Theology in Exodus 1-14. Alan Hauser, Intimacy and Alienation in Genesis 2-3. Charles Isbell, Story Lines and Key Words in Exodus 1-2. Martin Kessler, Methodology for Rhetorical Criticism. John Kselman, A Rhetorical Study of Psalm 22. Kenneth Kuntz, Rhetorical Criticism and Isaiah 51.1-16. Ann Vater, Form and Rhetorical Criticism in Exodus 7-11. Edwin Webster, Pattern in the Fourth Gospel.>